All of us have participated, at one time or another, in cause of social justice whether it is fighting anti-Semitism or fighting discrimination against Negroes, Puerto Ricans, and Mexicans, etc. (1) But few of us, unfortunately, realize that in so doing we are actually continuing a great Jewish tradition. Saving the oppressed from oppressor and the persecuted from taskmaster is a great fundamental of our faith.

1.   As with all else in Judaism, Man must learn from G-d. And G-d is zokeif kfufim (straightens the bent), pokeiach ivrim (gives sight to the blind), shomeir geirim (watches over the foreigners), yassom v’almanah y’oded (sustains the widow and orphan) … He is a someich noflim (raises the fallen), a motzi assirim (one who frees captives). 
2.   But this is more than theory. The life of the greatest Prophet who ever lived demonstrates very clearly that this is an essential pattern of Jewish action: Moses (a) saved an Israelite from the Egyptian taskmaster, (b) saved one Jew from another, and (c) saved the daughters of Yitro from the shepherds.

Notice that this pattern of social justice is a broad one: it includes situations in which the parties are Jew-Gentile; Jew-Jew; and Gentile-Gentile.

Moses does not suddenly become a prophet. He must first prove himself. And he does so in the eyes of G-d and history by first espousing the cause of the underprivileged and the oppressed in his passion for social justice.

1.   Maimonides maintains that the first step in the career of any prophet is that of protecting the underprivileged and the oppressed. A Prophet never is for the established powers against the oppressed, but always the reverse.
2. Well, if we are to follow the ethical ideal of “imitatio dei,” of patterning our ethical character on that of G-d, if we are to act as the sons of Prophets which we are, then we too must at all times and in all situations espouse the cause of social justice. The question then is: how does one go about it? What do you do?

Let us turn to the words of our Rabbis in the Midrash (Shmos Rabba 1-34) and there we shall find three ways of so doing. Our Rabbis wonder about the verse vayach es ha’Mitzri – Moses killed the Egyptian in saving the Israelite from this cruel oppressor. How did he do it? Three opinions are offered which serve as prototypes of three ways of achieving social justice.

1.   Hikahu be’egrof (he hit him with his fist) – The first way of achieving social justice is through physical help, personally involving yourself in order to save the persecuted. Modern examples include those who volunteered for the Israeli army, those who gave freely material means to Israel, those who donate to the cause of unpopular poor defendants – whether it be a Negro down south or an illiterate up north – and those who are volunteer nurses in our city hospitals. This is in keeping with Jewish Prophetic Tradition.
2.   Magrofi shel tit natal ve’hotzi es mocho – he struck him with an instrument in his brain. This refers to an intellectual method of achieving social justice, an appeal to the minds of men to rise and stand by the cause of justice even if it is unpopular. Examples include (a) political work for Israel in America to counteract the vicious Arab propaganda, (b) the letter-to-the-editor in the most recent issue Time magazine which is outright anti-semitism, (c) appealing to the minds of men to understand and accept democracy, and (d) the intellectual fight against intellectual anti-Semites (i.e., those who refer to Jews as “Pharisees” and adherents of “Higher Bible Criticism”).
3.   Hizkir es Ha’shem v’hargo – he mentioned G-d’s name and killed him. We can advocate for social justice by remaining true to our own religious tradition, and thereby aligning ourselves with G-d and justice.

a) There was a report that Hapoel Hamizrachi was included in the latest cabinet only because of a New York Times editorial criticizing the extreme leftist non-religious nature of government. This editorial by a non-Jewish source is what shamed Ben Gurion into accepting religious demands in Israel. This is embarrassing and dismaying. Rather, we should wield the shem hameforash ourselves, and try to influence fellow Jews to accept us.

b) John Haynes Holmes gave a famous sermon on the debt of Christianity to Judaism – he pointed out that, among many other things, Christianity’s church service stems from a Jewish origin, namely, of the Beis Haknesses. He remarked, in passing, that the origin of church attendance came from Jews going to synagogue, even though so many of them do not do so today. This was an indirect, sharp, caustic, but perfectly proper criticism of Jews. The only proper and right defense is: hizkir es Ha’shem – we must act religious…

c) The charge of “atheistic Jews”…. can become much more serious than we think. We must return to Shem, to the sources of our religious tradition….

1.   In summary, the cause of Social Justice is not only not outside Jewish tradition, but it is something we Jews taught the world. It is a prerequisite for the Prophet and an imperative for every Jew, for G-d too acts that way.

As I outlined earlier, there are three ways in which religious Jews can advocate for social justice: through physical means (e.g., material and financial help), intellectual means, and by strengthening our own religious loyalties.

1.   Only by doing so can we hope to strive successfully for the institution of Justice in this our world. May G-d give us the wisdom and power to so do. May He endow us with the Jewish passion for Justice for all peoples. And may He lead us all to a bright new world where such striving will be unnecessary, for injustice will be abolished and the Word of G-d will be supreme.